U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., questioned FBI Director Kash Patel about the upcoming deployment of the National Guard to Memphis during a Wednesday, Sept. 17, hearing.

Cohen asked Patel about the Memphis Safe Task Force, which President Donald Trump established Monday. The task force will include the FBI and 12 other federal agencies. It also requests Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee activate the Tennessee National Guard. 

Cohen, a longtime and ardent critic of Trump, praised Patel for “Operation Viper,” an FBI effort both Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty praised last week. Patel told Cohen the operation resulted in 500 arrests and about 110 indictments. 

Cohen also asked Patel what role the National Guard would play in the Memphis Safe Task Force. 

Shelby County Commissioners are weighing two resolutions that would serve as the body’s official response to a federal crime-fighting strategy announced this week.

President Donald Trump officially established the Memphis Safe Task Force on Monday, Sept. 15. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is implementing the plan, which seeks to coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement agencies focused on crime in Memphis.

Commissioners debated both approaches — one to flatly oppose the National Guard deployment and another more nuanced approach — during Wednesday, Sept. 17, committee sessions. Both resolutions are expected to be on the agenda for the Commission’s Monday, Sept. 22 meeting. Neither would be binding on state and federal leaders.

They followed an announcement hours earlier by a group of Memphis City Council members who have drafted a resolution opposing the presence of National Guard troops in Memphis.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the accurate list of council members supporting Jerri Green’s resolution. Due to an error in the original announcement, an earlier version included two members who have since been removed.

A group of Memphis City Council members has drafted a resolution opposing the presence of National Guard troops in Memphis as part of a crime-fighting strategy.

The resolution, which the full council could vote on next week, urges Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to reject the Guard’s deployment, which is part of the Memphis Safe Task Force President Donald Trump announced from the White House on Monday. 

Council member Jerri Green is sponsoring the resolution with support from fellow council members JB Smiley Jr., Pearl Walker and Dr. Jeff Warren. It is not binding on Lee.

There are many uncertainties around the proposed Memphis Safe Task Force and what exactly will happen when a cadre of federal, state and local agents hits Memphis to try and solve the city’s crime problem.

For one, no task force leader has been appointed yet, with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi expected to name that person at some point.

No exact timetable for when the task force will begin or end has been revealed, either, although Gov. Bill Lee told The Daily Memphian Tuesday, Sept. 16, that it would be “sooner than later” and that it could last longer than six months.

There will also likely be a new U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, a post typically considered the area’s top federal law enforcement officer, soon. 

It’s been a little more than a month since President Donald Trump mobilized National Guard troops and sent them into Washington, D.C., pledging a crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

Now Trump has announced Memphis as the location of the next deployment. He signed a presidential memorandum Monday, Sept. 15, that established the Memphis Safe Task Force, a federally led crime-reduction effort that promises coordination among 13 federal agencies and potential assistance from a host of state and local law enforcement, including the National Guard.

In announcing the task force, Trump said crime-reduction efforts in the Bluff City would be a “replica” of the “extraordinarily successful” efforts in D.C.

So what has military involvement in D.C. looked like? And what does it say about how this could go in Memphis?

Most Memphians agree that the city needs to address crime rates. But residents interviewed by The Daily Memphian on Tuesday, Sept. 16, disagreed about whether a National Guard deployment would offer a solution.

Some raised concerns that bringing troops to the city under President Donald Trump’s new “Memphis Safe Task Force” could irritate political tensions and cause chaos. Others think the move is worth a try if it brings crime down.

“You can’t complain about crime and complain about the National Guard,” said Emory Hammonds, who runs a barber shop in the Southland Mall in Whitehaven.

“But I do have a serious concern about those who are not criminals, young, Black, who don’t know how to conduct themselves when encountered by law enforcement,” Hammonds said. “… A lot of times, they might not comply as they should, and get hurt or killed.” 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee does not have a date for when the Tennessee National Guard would arrive in Memphis but said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that it would be “sooner than later.” 

“Part of our plan is just to make sure people know when we know ... We obviously want the community to understand when this is going to happen, what it’s going to look like, how many soldiers there are going to be, how many police officers there are going to be, how many troopers there will be,” Lee said. “The more we tell Memphians, the better off it’s going to be.” 

Lee spoke to The Daily Memphian on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, he appeared alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the president created the Memphis Safe Task Force. Trump has focused on crime reduction in cities run by the opposite political party, and he has interspersed his remarks about Memphis with threats that the National Guard might go to other cities. 

A presidential memorandum established the task force, a federally led crime reduction effort that promises coordination among 13 federal agencies and potential assistance from a range of state and local law enforcement agencies.

President Donald Trump said Monday, Sept. 15, that he has established the Memphis Safe Task Force.

The president signed a memorandum to that effect from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, flanked by a number of government leaders and Tennessee elected officials.

“This task force will be a replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts here (in Washington D.C.), and you’ll see it’s a lot of the same thing (in Memphis), although the numbers here are really something, they’re really bad. Now, we did send the FBI in about four months ago to work, and it brought some of the numbers down, and they did a great job, but we’re sending in the big force,” Trump said Monday.

He said the task force will include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the National Guard. 

The impending arrival of National Guard troops to Memphis, along with additional federal and state resources, is sparking a wave of local leaders speaking on — and to — national news outlets.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said on CNN Monday, Sept. 15, that the presence of the National Guard in the city will be a “threat to democracy.”

Memphis City Council Chairman Ford Canale, also on CNN Monday, disagreed with Harris’ view.

“I think that the National Guard is a short-term solution, and let’s be honest, these guys, these men and women, have jobs and families just like we do, and they would probably rather not be here as well,” Canale told CNN host Wolf Blitzer. “What we’re focused on as the legislators for the city of Memphis is long-term solutions. So what we would welcome is more federal agents, federal prosecutors, those that can help us get the violent criminals and drugs off our streets.”

One of the last times the National Guard was called into Memphis, the city was a different place. 

It was the summer of 1978. Simultaneous police and fire union strikes and a city-wide blackout prompted late Memphis Mayor Wyeth Chandler to declare a civil emergency and call in the guard.

The power of the state military force was helpful and needed then, according to Buddy Chapman, who was director of the Memphis Police Department at the time. But with recent news that the guard is making a return to the Bluff City, Chapman said he feels differently this time around. 

In an interview, Chapman called the move a “political stunt” and a “severe dis-allocation of resources.”

Last week, the CEO of a rail company met with President Donald Trump to discuss a giant train merger. During that conversation, Trump sought his opinion on National Guard deployment, the president said Friday, Sept. 12.

“And so I said, ‘What do you think? Where should we go next, as a city?’” Trump said during a Friday morning interview on “Fox & Friends.” “He said, ‘Sir, Memphis would be good.’” 

Trump did not name Jim Vena, the CEO of Union Pacific, but described the person he spoke to as the head of the company. Union Pacific confirmed Vena, a FedEx board member from 2022 to 2023, met with the president. 

Speculation had mounted that Trump would target Memphis for National Guard deployment, something his administration Friday called an “aggressive push to dismantle the rampant violent crime fueled by failed Democrat governance in major cities.” With his comments Friday, the president tied that official announcement to advice from an executive pushing for a major business deal, who was said to have traveled around Memphis in an armored vehicle because of “terrible” crime.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and President Donald Trump had a productive conversation about the plan to bring the National Guard to Memphis, and the two plan to talk again early next week about the plan, a spokeswoman told The Daily Memphian. 

“The governor and the president discussed the remarkable community in Memphis that includes top global businesses and strong faith leaders as well as the cultural significance that the city represents. They agreed this is a historic opportunity to make an already great city a safer city,” Elizabeth Lane Johnson, Lee’s press secretary, said Friday, Sept. 12. 

Lee’s call with Trump followed the president's Friday morning announcement on Fox News that he would send the guard to Memphis. The governor responded later in the day, saying the guard would be sent to Memphis as part of a comprehensive mission to lower crime in the city further. 

The National Guard is a group of state-run part-time military organizations. In the 50 states, the state National Guard reports to the governor but can be activated by the president. In Washington, D.C., where Trump deployed the National Guard, it can be federalized and under federal control. 

The city’s strategy on a National Guard deployment to Memphis — at least up until President Donald Trump announced Friday, Sept. 12, that the guard will be coming — was to hope it didn’t happen.

But if it did, federal and State of Tennessee officials could be convinced to let the city have a say in where the troops are sent and what they do in the city.

That’s what Shelby County Democratic Party Chairman Willie Simon took from his discussions with Mayor Paul Young and others who were meeting in the days ahead of Trump’s confirmation Friday morning to a national audience on Fox News.

Less than 24 hours later, Young, backed by several dozen backers and allies of the strategy at City Hall, began a political journey.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young pointed to three things Friday, Sept. 12, he believes have reduced city crime in light of the announcement that President Donald Trump would send the National Guard to the city.

During a press conference Friday, Young highlighted the city’s strategy of “identifying the most violent individuals and groups in the city;” investments in a “citywide camera network,” and a recent FBI and Memphis Police Department partnership, which he said have led to reduced crime numbers. 

MPD preempted the National Guard announcement with a Tuesday release of year-to-date crime numbers that showed a 25-year low in some categories.

Among the strategies Young referenced was the city’s camera-focused initiatives in the last year.

Memphis Police Department Chief C.J. Davis will remain the city’s chief law enforcement officer when the National Guard arrives, Davis and Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Friday, Sept. 12. 

Young said Davis’ status as the city’s top cop would not change when the guard arrives. The city still does not know when the deployment will begin, how many personnel will come or where they will be stationed. 

“There will be a lot of coordination, and obviously, we’re still, this is something we’re all new to. So we’re going to be learning, working with our attorneys, but Chief Davis will remain the chief of police and continue to drive law enforcement in the city of Memphis,” Young said during a news conference. 

Davis spoke to reporters after Young. She said the city hoped to reach a memorandum of understanding with the National Guard. Such a document would presumably govern how the guard would behave in Memphis. 

Memphis Mayor Paul Young did not ask for the National Guard to be brought to Memphis and does not believe it is the way to bring down crime in the city, he said during a press conference Friday, Sept. 12.

“I did not ask for the National Guard, and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime. However, that decision has been made,” Young said. “And as mayor of the city that I love, Memphis, Tennessee, my commitment is to make sure that we work strategically to ensure that this happens in a way that truly benefits and strengthens our community.”

Young said the City of Memphis is in talks with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and the federal government about the National Guard’s deployment to Memphis. President Donald Trump said during a Friday morning interview on “Fox & Friends” he would be sending the National Guard to Memphis.

For now, Young said, he does not know when the National Guard will arrive. Other details are still being determined, he said, such as how many guardsmen will be deployed, how long they will stay in Memphis, where they will be stationed and what their specific assignments may be.

The National Guard is coming to Memphis, President Donald Trump said Friday, Sept. 12, on the cable news show “Fox & Friends.” 

“We’re going to Memphis. Memphis is deeply troubled. He’s a Democrat mayor. The mayor is happy and ... the governor is happy. Deeply troubled. We’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” Trump said. “I would’ve preferred going to Chicago.” 

Gov. Bill Lee, in a statement on Friday, said the next phase of combatting crime in Memphis will involve a “comprehensive mission with the Tennessee National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Memphis Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies, and we are working closely with the Trump Administration to determine the most effective role for each of these agencies to best serve Memphians.”

Lee stopped short of saying he had activated the Tennessee National Guard. 

State and local leadership reacted largely along partisan lines to President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send the National Guard to Memphis. 

Republicans praised the move. Democrats called it unnecessary. Here’s a roundup of some of those reactions.

Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis:

“As a lifelong Memphian, I want to be clear: We do not need the National Guard occupying our city. The last time a U.S. president sent the Guard to Memphis was in 1968, after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel and our community was in deep grief and unrest. Other times the Guard was deployed to Southern cities, it was to enforce civil rights laws when segregationists refused to comply. That history matters — because what we are seeing now is not about justice, it’s about politics.

“This is an abuse of power, using troops to score political points off of crime statistics, even though overall crime in Memphis is down to a 25-year low. That’s not leadership — that’s overreach.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen’s real-time reaction to the National Guard coming to Memphis was one of support for Mayor Paul Young.

Less than an hour after President Donald Trump announced in a Friday, Sept. 12, television appearance that he would send the troops to Memphis, Tennessee’s only Democratic U.S. Representative — and the highest ranking Democrat in the state — spoke about the news publicly after a planned press conference at Memphis International Airport.

Cohen said Mayor Young, a Democrat who holds a nonpartisan office, has little choice in the matter and that the city isn’t in a position to resist via court challenge as Chicago officials have done.

“The mayor’s got a tough job. He’s got to look out for the overall good of the city. We do have a crime problem,” Cohen said Friday. “He’s got to work with (Tennessee) Governor (Bill) Lee and the state – and the federal government too. I’m not going to criticize Mayor Young and (Memphis Police Department) Chief (C.J.) Davis. I think they are doing a good job, and they are going to do a better job.”

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Thursday, Sept. 11, that the National Guard could be deployed to Memphis, confirming media reports about the matter.

In a statement sent to media outlets, Young said, “Earlier this week, I was informed that the Governor and the President were considering deploying the National Guard and other resources to Memphis. I am committed to working to ensure any efforts strengthen our community and build on our progress.” 

Like Lee did in a statement on Wednesday, Young highlighted the ongoing federal law enforcement resources in the city and said the city needed more of those resources. 

“We agree with Governor Lee that effective support for Memphis comes through focused initiatives that deliver results like we have seen with the FBI, state troopers, and other law enforcement partnerships. What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen MPD’s investigations,” Young said. 

The White House, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office and Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s administration have discussed a possible deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

The person, whom The Daily Memphian agreed not to name due to the sensitive and evolving nature of the situation, said the discussions remain preliminary and subject to what President Donald Trump decides to do. The president had previously said in a radio interview that he would consider sending troops to Memphis. 

The source said legal restrictions could prevent some police actions by the National Guard in Memphis. They said any deployment locally would be far different than the recent arrival of troops in Washington, D.C., because of those legal hurdles.

The person said National Guard troops could not set up roadblocks or arrest people for crimes because they are not local law enforcement officers. They would be allowed to guard federal assets — for example, the Odell Horton Federal Building in Downtown Memphis — or respond to a natural disaster.